


What's on the Other Side

by twilight_shades



Series: Before You Leap [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Earth, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Deadpool Thought Boxes, Deadpool being Deadpool, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Leonard Snart Lives, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:26:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14041197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilight_shades/pseuds/twilight_shades
Summary: Sequel to It’s Not Easy.  Deadpool is on Leonard’s Earth and someone is going to have to come fetch him.  Yes, obviously, Peter volunteers.





	What's on the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Do not own. Complete fiction

Leonard is tired. He did not sleep well. Barry had been over, but had had to leave, to do something hero-ish, Leonard is sure. If Leonard thought he would be able to sleep, he would stay in bed, but something is off. He gets up and heads for the kitchen. Halfway through the living room area he stops and walks backward a few steps.

“Deadpool.”

“Cold, oh my God! It’s you. I mean it’s you you. The boxes said it would hardly be a good story if I had ended up on an Earth with a different Cold, so of course I would end up here. I don’t know about that, though, ‘cause I bet there are lots of interesting yous.”

Leonard blinks. “Okay. How did you end up here?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. This place is so weird too. There are so many places I have never heard of. And all the heroes and villains are wrong, like funhouse mirror wrong. Oh, but the boxes keep talking about a timeship.”

“It’s not as much fun as it might seem.”

“Oh. You’ve gone? Have you stolen a lot of things from history?”

Leonard nods.

“Ooh, the Mona Lisa?”

“Three times so far.”

Deadpool cocks his head.

“Putting it back so I can take it again when it gets harder just makes it better.”

“Huh. You know Spidey’s going to be so disappointed. If anyone was going to end up over here, he would have wanted it to be him.”

“Yes.” Leonard’s of two minds about that. He’d like to see the kid, introduce him to Lisa. Maybe. But Leonard wouldn’t want Peter to learn certain things about him. Deadpool is somewhat unlikely to tell Peter if he finds out, though it’s not a certainty because Deadpool doesn’t always have the best grasp on reality and his moral compass is… unpredictable. “Did you kill anybody on this world?”

“No! Wait, yes. But just a guy who was going to kill a lady in an alley.”

Leonard shrugs, not much concerned about that then.

“Hey, hey, hey. Could I meet Mick?”

“Sure.”

Deadpool suddenly jumps up on Leonard and is hugging his head.

Leonard pries him off.

Deadpool pouts a little and then smiles (Leonard really doesn’t understand how the mask is so expressive). “You’re _nice_.”

Leonard gives him a puzzled look.

“I mean, not nice like Spidey’s nice. Nice, like you treat me like an actual person with actual feelings and shit.”

“Don’t ever let anyone treat you like you don’t have feelings. Just because you might not feel what they think you should, doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t real. Your feelings matter. You matter.”

“Ooh, stern. Daddy Cold. Hot.”

Leonard gives him a look. “I’ll ask The Flash about getting you home. I don’t know if it can happen the same way that I got back.”

“You can call him Barry.”

Leonard keeps his face blank and quirks an eyebrow.

Deadpool waves a hand. “The boxes told me.”

Leonard doesn’t say anything.

Deadpool looks off to the side a bit. “What? Really? How romantic!”

Leonard waits, knowing Deadpool isn’t talking to him.

Deadpool refocuses on Leonard. “Even though I know, you’re keeping it a secret because you said you would. Swoon.” And then Deapool actually does.

Leonard catches him and puts him on his feet.

“You can call me Wade if you want, I know you’ve been calling me Deadpool in your head.”

“The boxes?”

“The boxes. Yellow, mostly. Yeah, so Wade’s good, but I don’t think I’m going to call you Leonard, if that’s okay? I really like Cold. It has a good texture, feels right.”

“It’s cool.”

Wade laughs like a hyena.

~~~

Before Leonard leaves Wade with Mick, he tells Mick to please not set Wade on fire and gets a nod and he tells Wade to please not ask Mick to set Wade on fire and gets a frown and a reluctant nod. Leonard shakes his head and leaves them to it.

Leonard makes his way to STAR Labs. He briefly thinks about fixing some of their security holes, but honestly, you never know when they might come in handy. Barry smiles when he catches sight of Leonard. 

“Ramon,” Leonard says to get the tech’s attention from whatever he’s doing on a computer.

“For the billionth time, call me Cisco.”

Leonard just looks at him, amazed that someone so smart doesn’t understand that Leonard calls Ramon by his last name specifically to annoy him and the more insistent he gets, the more Leonard wants to do it. “We have a visitor that we will need to let Stark know about when he calls in tomorrow.”

“We do?” Ramon asks.

“What visitor?” Barry asks sharply.

Leonard turns his attention to the speedster, who very nearly looks like he’s pouting. Leonard frowns and then realizes what Barry’s problem is. “Not that one… Emerald.”

“Wait, who’s Emerald?” Ramon asks, confused.

“Nobody,” Barry says quickly to Ramon, then turns back to Leonard. “Then who is it?” 

“Deadpool.”

Barry looks shocked. “ _Deadpool_?”

“That’s the, uh, mercenary that heals, right? The one who’s out of his-“ Ramon cuts himself off when Leonard fixes narrowed eyes on him. “The one who… has some mental health issues?”

Leonard nods.

“Has he killed anyone?” Barry asks.

“You sure you want me to answer that?”

“Yes. No.”

Leonard looks at Barry until Barry shakes his head and looks away.

“Well, um, anyway, actually, I’ve been working on a way to contact Stark, rather than just waiting for him to call us. I haven’t tested it yet, but I could do that now,” Ramon says.

“I’m impressed, Ramon,” Leonard says.

“Ooh, the great Captain Cold is impressed with me, I’m so flattered,” Ramon says sarcastically.

Leonard raises an eyebrow.

“Okay, I am a little bit. Shut up,” Ramon says. He gets on a computer and starts typing. 

The monitor they have set up for the calls flickers, goes black, and then the picture suddenly flares to life. It’s Stark’s lab, though it looks damaged, with glass on the floor, some equipment knocked over and a scorch mark here and there. Leonard surveys the destruction, it could be a lab accident as easily as a hostile attack. There’s nobody in the frame, not even his misfit robots. There’s a loud crash.

“Is everything alright?” Barry calls out loudly.

There’s another loud crash and then Iron Man comes into view. “Huh, did that somehow make a call?” he asks, tilting his head.

Leonard’s pretty sure this is Stark, but other people have worn the suit and he has other suits, so he can’t be certain. It does sound like him, but Leonard would not be at all surprised if there was some sort of voice modifier for just that purpose.

“No, I figured out how to call you guys,” Ramon says.

A bolt of light comes from somewhere off camera over Iron Man’s head and hits something that causes sparks to fly. “Well, good for you. We are a little busy right now, though.”

“You haven’t misplaced anyone lately, then? Dead dark sense of humor? Pool of violent talents?” Leonard drawls.

Spider-Man’s upside down face suddenly fills the screen. “Wait, Deadpool, he’s there? Oh, God, we thought he was dead. It looked like he _disintegrated_.” Peter’s voice shakes a little on the last word.

“He’s here. Safe and so- Safe and alive, well, when I left him, anyway,” Leonard says.

Peter lets out a relieved sigh. “Awesome. Hey, Cold, how are you? Other than dealing with unexpected visitors?”

“Oh, you know, just chilling.”

Peter laughs.

Leonard smirks. “It’s not _hanging_ around with Iron Man, getting _blasted_ , but it’ll do.”

Peter snorts and in the background Iron Man lets out a bark of laughter while Ramon and Barry groan behind Leonard. Another bolt of light zings by on screen and Peter leaves the frame.

“We can call back,” Leonard says and looks at Ramon for confirmation.

Ramon nods.

“Nah, it’s okay. We actually already got the bad guy. This is mostly just clean-up. _Someone_ ,” Iron Man says as he looks over to the left, “destroyed the controls on his robot turret weapon. Now it’s firing at anything that moves into its sensor range and sometimes just randomly,” Iron Man says. “Anyway, now that we know our soldier of misfortune is alive, I will come fetch him as soon as we figure out the best way to get there, not involving the weird thing your flashy fast guy can do.”

“You aren’t going,” someone yells off screen.

Iron Man sighs. “Fine. Someone will come over.”

“I’m going,” Peter’s voice says from out of frame and it sounds like he’s below the mic.

There’s whine and then a pop and then it’s quiet from Stark’s lab. Peter stands up and is on screen. Iron Man pops open his mask and it is Stark. He rolls his eyes. “Finally. Okay, so Itsy-Bitsy here will be over in probably a few days. Now that we know what happened to Deadpool, I can figure something out. And someone else will be with him,” Stark says and looks at Peter, “because you aren’t going alone. We’ll probably have to do a lottery or something.”

“Lottery?” Barry asks.

“A bunch of people will want to go. You know how popular Cold is, everybody lining up to talk to him,” Stark says.

“Lining up?” Leonard asks.

“Oh, I guess I didn’t mention that. A few people have wanted to talk to you, but you know Spidey has been hogging up call time,” Stark says.

“You could give them your time,” Peter says, not at all chastened.

“I am the architect of the system, I have to be here if something goes wrong,” Stark defends.

“Or you just want to trade snarky remarks with him,” Peter says.

“Whatever. Anyway, Cold, what’s your secret, how are you so popular? It can’t be the smugness. ‘Cause I’ve got that and I’ve been told people don’t like that.”

“I’m really cool,” Leonard says as dryly as he can.

Peter cackles at the look on Stark’s face.

“It’s the puns, isn’t it?” Stark asks.

“Maybe. People say they don’t like them, but they seem to encourage them,” Leonard says.

“There’s got to be something else,” Stark says. 

Leonard considers and then offers, “Accepting people for who they are tends to go a long way.” 

“Yeah, I’m more of a throw-money-and-charm-at-it kind of guy,” Stark says.

“Shocking,” Leonard says.

“I know. Anyway, we’ve got some clean-up to do. We’ll contact you, say Friday, regular time, give you an update on our progress,” Stark says.

Leonard nods.

Peter waves. “Bye.”

“Talk to you later, Spider-Man,” Leonard says.

Ramon cuts the connection.

“You didn’t exactly accept me,” Barry says, his mouth down-turned.

“Hmm?” Leonard asks.

Barry looks down. “You kind of implied I was stupid for being the way I am, for trusting you.”

Leonard studies Barry. “You can be a terribly contrary person and stubborn to boot.”

“Hey!”

“Nah, Barry, he’s right, you can be,” Ramon chips in.

“So, when someone tries to contradict you about something, sometimes you’ll just entrench it further. I figured that out about you the first time we met,” Leonard says.

“So that was, like, a strategy?” Ramon asks.

Leonard shrugs a little.

“I mean, Barry did trust you later and seemed really sure there was something good in you,” Ramon says thoughtfully.

Barry frowns at Leonard. “And with King Shark, you kept me from doing something that went against my principles. And, oh my God, you goaded me to leave you there.”

“And?” Leonard asks leadingly.

Barry gives a questioning look.

“And I’m with you and have I tried to change you in any significant way?”

Barry smiles a little. “You make me pick up my clothes.”

“Yeah, okay, you’re right, I don’t accept you for who you are,” Leonard deadpans. “I guess you’ll have to find someone who has a better tolerance for you breaking another bone when you trip over something you’ve left on the floor.”

“That was one time!” Barry says.

“Three times,” Leonard says.

“Okay, I’m with Cold on this, Barry,” Ramon says.

Barry looks betrayed.

“Okay, now you are Cisco to me,” Leonard says.

Cisco looks like he doesn’t know how to feel about that. “Thanks, I guess.”

~~~

Leonard is out with Wade, maybe avoiding Barry. Barry had been shooting Leonard looks since he’d gotten quiet earlier when it had been set that Spider-Man and Hawkeye were going to come in two days. Barry is going to want to talk about it. Leonard does not want to talk about it. Leonard watches as Wade dances with an imaginary partner in a cross between the cha-cha and some sort of swing dance. It’s very dynamic and there’s an odd kind of grace to it. Wade’s been getting a few looks, both for the costume and the dancing, but people just move on after they determine he’s not some meta or something bent on destruction. Wade comes to a stop and Leonard gives Wade a golf clap, so he goes into a deep curtsey. Wade straightens and Leonard starts to saunter off down the sidewalk, Wade falling into step. Wade studies at him. 

“What?” Leonard asks.

“Don’t get mad.”

Leonard sighs. “You didn’t kill anyone else, did you?”

Wade thinks about that. “Don’t think so. This isn’t about that. Um, Spidey isn’t really all that judgmental.”

Leonard raises his eyebrows.

“You just seem not that excited about him coming here. And Spider-Man is awesome, you should be excited. I know you’ve missed him, because who wouldn’t miss him? I mean, I figure you know this, but I thought I’d just, you know, let you know, in case you forgot,” Wade says fairly earnestly, then turns his head to the side and hisses, “Shut up.”

And this is exactly what Leonard _didn’t_ want to talk about. And he has missed Peter and Leonard is happy that he’ll see Peter in person soon. Leonard is just also… concerned. Because Peter is probably going to learn more about Leonard than Leonard would like. “I’m not worried about him… judging me.”

“Oh. Did you just have some bad burritos? ‘Cause sometimes that makes me seem all, like, brooding, when really I’m just thinking about getting to a bathroom.”

“No.”

“Huh. Well, do you know where there are any good burritos?” Wade looks over to the side. “If he doesn’t want to talk about it, he doesn’t have to.” Wade’s eyes dart over further. “Has talking really helped us?” Wade pauses. “True, but- Oh, what? For real?” Wade focuses back on Leonard. “Have you considered, maybe, dying? Sometimes it really clears my mind, sometimes literally, depending how. I wouldn’t usually suggest it, but Yellow seems to think you’ve done it before.”

“Kind of, but I’m not sure I’d come back from that again. Anyway, it didn’t really clear my mind.”

“Ah, well, different strokes for different croaks.”

Leonard grins, amused. “Your boxes see a lot, don’t they?”

Wade nods enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah, like, bits and pieces of new panels and current screenplays and old episodes and a whole lot of other stuff.”

Leonard doesn’t know what that means. “Do they know anything about Lewis Snart?”

“Relative?”

“Was.”

Wade looks over to the right and slowly stops walking, speaking with long pauses, “Oh. Uh-huh. Seriously? Like, actually iced?” Wade focuses back on Leonard. “White thinks we should offer to buy you a celebratory ice cream, but I don’t know if that’s insensitive or not.”

Leonard lets out a surprised laugh. “I like ice cream.”

“Awesome.”

Leonard inclines his head left at the next intersection and they head in that direction. He walks for a few minutes beside a softly muttering Wade. Wade falls silent. Leonard eyes him and decides to explain about Spider-Man, “I’m not worried about judgment. Just, sometimes sympathy can feel an awful lot like pity. And excusing my misdeeds because of it, can grate.”

“Gotcha. What were we talking about?”

Leonard shakes head and then indicates with his chin the storefront up ahead. “Ice cream.”

Wade smiles. “Cool.”

~~~

When Leonard gets back to his place, after settling Wade at a nearby safe house, he finds Barry waiting for him. Leonard probably should have expected this. But it’s okay, he feels like he maybe can talk to Barry about it now. As he opens his mouth, though, Barry puts him up against the wall and kisses like it’s a siege. Leonard kisses back after a moment of startled stillness. Just as he’s really getting into it, Barry pulls back and drops to his knees. He unfastens Leonard’s pants and frees his dick from his underwear. Barry then opens his mouth and takes it in, almost to the base. Leonard’s breath catches and he doesn’t get it back again as Barry begins to vibrate his tongue. It’s over after just a few moments. Leonard sags against the wall and very nearly staggers when Barry lets go. Barry drags him off to the bed. Barry pushes Leonard to sit on the bed, removes his boots, then pushes him to lie on the bed. Barry then quickly strips out of his clothes and lies down next to Leonard. Leonard dazedly watches as Barry licks his hand and efficiently brings himself off.

Leonard’s not really sure what brought this on. Although Barry sometimes does bring himself off quickly, he’s has, up until now, taken his time with Leonard. “That was… snappy. The world isn’t ending, is it? Not going to go off and sacrifice yourself for some greater good?”

“What? No. And it’s not like I’m the only one who has ever done something like that.”

“Unlike some people, I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Uh-huh,” Barry says, tone not at all genuine.

“I won’t sacrifice myself for some _ideal_.”

“No. Just for people who matter to you.”

Leonard glares at him, but doesn’t say anything.

“So, you want to tell me why you aren’t more excited about Spider-Man coming?” Barry asks.

Ah ha. “Barry Allen, did you just try to soften me up with sex so that I would talk?”

“No! That’s- I wouldn’t.”

Leonard just looks at him until Barry starts fidgeting from fighting his conscience. Handy that.

“Maybe a little.” Barry looks down and mumbles something.

“What?”

“And I was thinking about the two of you all day.”

“Oh, Emerald, never change. You don’t need to be jealous.”

Barry looks up. “Nobody _needs_ to be jealous, they just are.”

“Just are, huh? In my experience, jealousy can come from lack of trust and/or insecurity. Strangely, I think yours comes from insecurity.”

“Strangely?”

“Given our history, some distrust wouldn’t be out of place. And, really, Barry, I cannot think of _anything_ you need to be insecure about.”

Barry smiles even as he blushes.

Leonard smirks. He decides to go ahead and tell Barry what’s been bothering him. “I don’t want sympathy or understanding. It was nice to be free of, or pretend to be free of, my father. I’ve made a lot of bad choices and, yeah, some of them come directly from him and the things he did. But there’s more to it than that. There’s more to me than that.”

“You don’t think he’ll see that?”

“Yes… eventually.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess it can take time to, um, put it in perspective.”

Leonard just nods resignedly.

~~~

Hawkeye and Peter arrive with little fanfare (except for the maybe literal bending of time and space that Cisco thinks Stark may have done to get them here). And Peter is not in his Spider-Man suit, though Hawkeye is in a toned down version of his uniform. Peter warmly introduces himself by his actual name to Cisco and Barry, who looks shocked at Peter’s appearance, but just as openly announces his actual name. Leonard sighs in exasperation.

Peter smiles at Barry. “I didn’t think it was necessary to keep up the whole identity thing, even if Leonard’s a stickler for it.”

“Yeah, he’s really good at keeping secret identities secret,” Barry says.

“ _Somebody_ has to be,” Leonard says.

Both Barry and Peter look at the ground.

Hawkeye looks at them in amusement and says to the room, “Well, I’m Clint Barton and my identity isn’t really a secret, but you can call me Hawkeye if you want.” He turns to Leonard, “Hey, good to see you. I thought I was going to have to do a cage match for the privilege. And then Wolverine would have been the one here.” 

Leonard thinks maybe the reason why it’s Clint that’s here with Peter is the suspicions that Leonard had had about Clint’s background, the same types Leonard is relatively sure Clint had about him. It hadn’t been anything concrete, nothing they had talked about. Leonard had caught hints, although, given Clint’s job, those could have been due to any one of a number of things. But Leonard doesn’t think he’s wrong about the source. He idly wonders if Clint rigged whatever was used to make the decision.

“How did you decide?” Cisco asks curiously.

“Epic game of rock-paper-scissors,” Clint says dryly. “So, we’re here for roughly fifty-two hours before we have to go, but I was kind of expecting Deadpool to be here to greet us.”

“He’s not allowed in STAR Labs,” Cisco says darkly.

“There was an incident with something that was not supposed to be a weapon,” Leonard says, nodding to several monitors with holes through their screens in the corner near Cisco. “He’s waiting outside.” Leonard gestures down a corridor that will lead them out and Clint and Peter start to move in that direction.

Barry catches Leonard before he can follow them. “He’s a _baby_ ,” he whispers, sounding scandalized.

“Told you you had nothing to worry about, Emerald,” Leonard says and waves to Cisco as he heads out.

Cisco, who still seems mistrustful of Leonard’s friendliness, waves back slowly, frowning suspiciously.

Leonard isn’t actually trying to mess with Cisco, but he thinks it’s rather entertaining that his amiability does. He’s careful to hide his enjoyment from Barry as they head after Clint and Peter.

~~~

Leonard and Wade are sitting in a booth of the almost empty Saints and Sinners, watching Lisa and Peter play pool. Peter would be losing horribly except he is cheating outrageously with his webs every time Lisa appears to not be looking. Lisa winks at Leonard as Peter changes the trajectory of a ball. Leonard is trying to keep the stupidly fond smile off his face, though he does let a bit of the smugness he feels show, sure that Peter has internalized Leonard’s lessons of using the advantages you have (and cheating when you can). 

Leonard wasn’t sure Lisa and Peter were going to get along, at first. They had both been wary around each other, plus there was just Peter’s general awkwardness. But then Lisa had told the story about Kentucky and that stupid, stupid goat and they were off. There was a lot of commentary on Leonard’s behavior and words of wisdom that he could have done without, but it’s good that they like each other.

Peter lines up a shot and (almost accidentally) sinks two balls and looks at Leonard. Leonard gives him a sarcastic thumbs-up, which makes Peter laugh. Peter turns back to the game. 

Wade sighs. 

Leonard arches an eyebrow at him.

“Think he’ll ever like me like he likes you?” Wade asks wistfully.

“No,” Leonard says.

Wade’s mask looks like one of those tragedy masks.

“He likes me as a mentor, maybe as family. That’s not the way he likes you. Could he like you as much as or more than me? Sure.”

Wade suddenly looks and sounds completely serious when he asks, “Really?”

“Yes,” Leonard says deliberately.

“Oh, wow,” Wade says.

“What?”

“I was trying to think up a good pun for you and, shit, do the boxes have a lot of suggestions,” Wade says.

Leonard looks over to where Lisa has finally let Peter know she’s on to him and is teaching him to be stealthier, well, _trying_ to, at least. They’ve probably got some time before Barry is back with Clint from flashing over to see Arrow (Clint’s glee when Barry had said something about a competition when he had told Clint about Arrow had been a sight to see). “Let’s hear ‘em.”

Wade smiles. “Ice of you. Truly cool of you. We have a winter here. Good as Cold. King of the Thrill-Chill Cult. Absolutely _polar_ izing. Worth the brisk. In the frozone. Shooting from the nip. _Arctic_ ularly awesome. You the-”

~~~

Peter is bouncing off the walls, which is fine, something Leonard is used to, but it’s amping up Barry, Wade, _and Clint_. Lisa just seems to think it’s funny and is looking around at nearby objects. Leonard knows she’s thinking of flinging something in the air to see how they’ll all react; he knows mostly because it’s something he’s been wondering about himself. Mick had smartly removed himself from the situation before he could really get pulled into the excitement and ended up wanting to set something on fire. Or maybe he’s just gone somewhere to set something on fire, somewhere a little less crowded with people who might be inclined to put out fires.

Leonard claps his hands together once to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, Peter and I are going out. Lis, think you can come up with something for these three to do?”

Lisa smiles at him and as she turns to Barry, Clint, and Wade, she lets it transform into a wicked smirk that has even Wade straightening up. “Oh, yeah, I can do that.”

As Leonard and Peter leave, Leonard hears her ask, “So, what do you all think of gold?”

Leonard lips curl in amusement, sure that his baby sister will challenge them to a game with her gold gun and Clint will end up gilded arrows and Wade will end up with a gilded… something (could be weaponry, could be a body part).

Leonard takes Peter to a mostly empty warehouse and invites him to have at it with a wave. Peter flings himself around, swinging on his webs, doing flips and other amazingly unnecessary acrobatic feats. Leonard gets it, if you’re going to do something, might as well do it with flair. After a while, Peter slows down, starts talking while idly swinging back and forth on a couple of webs. He talks about all the little things he didn’t over their interplanetary communication system. Silly things, private things. Stark may not always have been in the room, but he was always keeping track.

Peter wraps it up by telling Leonard about a burglar he’d stopped the other day. “And he almost impaled himself on his own crowbar. I webbed him more to keep him from hurting himself than to hold him for the police because he definitely didn’t get anything. Why are there so many stupid criminals?”

Leonard fires his cold gun at Peter twice in quick succession. Peter avoids the first shot completely, but the second shot takes out his webs and he hits the floor hard.

“Ow,” Peter groans, sitting up. “Seriously?”

“That wasn’t bad, but you should have been able to dodge both. Too many happy thoughts, not enough pixie dust?”

Peter gives him a disgruntled look.

Leonard, unrepentant, raises an eyebrow. “Have you been slacking?”

“Maybe a little. Like I said, stupid criminals. Don’t offer much of a challenge.”

“Yes, well, smart criminals will tend to steer clear of you. When you go up against smart ones, it’s probably due to chance – good for you, bad for them. Unless, of course, they are looking to make a statement, make a name for themselves. Watch out for that, they may also be assessing you for a later, bigger confrontation. And don’t slack off.”

Peter thinks about that. “Yeah, okay. ‘Mind what you have learned. Save you it can.’”

Leonard frowns. “Was that Yoda?”

“You don’t like Yoda?”

“Yoda’s fine. I just don’t agree with him on the whole ‘fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate’ thing.”

“You don’t?”

“Both anger and fear are natural, _useful_ emotions. You can’t just not feel them because you decide to. Or, well, I guess you can, you know, train yourself out of fear, learn to let go or avoid anything that makes you angry. But that comes with its own problems. Fear can be a warning, help you stay out of danger, but if you do find yourself in danger, an adrenalin response can give you a boost if you need to fight or run. And there are things you should angry about, especially if that anger helps you to act. Anger can also be used, in the short term, to keep you going.”

Peter considers. “I guess that’s true, but sometimes fear does lead to anger and hate.”

“Only if you don’t deal with it, if you don’t realize why and act on it or decide it’s not worth it and work on letting it go. Only if you push it down and let it keep building or keep adding to it. Only if you let the fear get bigger, stoke the anger into rage, let bitterness and resentment take hold. Then, yeah, you’ll hate and maybe you won’t care who you hurt. Or maybe you’ll want to hurt someone, anyone, whether they had anything to do with it or not. It can turn you into a monster. Sometimes you just want someone to feel as bad as you do. But the thing is, that doesn’t really work, it doesn’t take away any of the things that made you feel bad.”

Peter’s expression is troubled as he studies Leonard.

Leonard looks at Peter and decides. Leonard turns away so that he doesn’t have to look at Peter when he says, “Our father, mine and Lisa’s, was a corrupt cop. And he was vicious. He used to beat the crap out of me. A lot. And he pulled me into being a thief for him when I was a kid. He took me on jobs for the mob. He ditched me on one that went sour and that was the first time I ended up in juvie, where I almost got killed, ‘cept for Mick. And then there was Lisa. He didn’t go after her as much as me, partly ‘cause I would try to stop him, but I wasn’t always there and sometimes when I was, I wasn’t always able to stop him. We finally got away from him, but we weren’t free. A couple of years ago I killed him”

“You killed him?” Peter asks, sounding shocked.

“I did. I iced him. He put a bomb in Lisa to get me to work for him. Barry tried to help. And my father was going to make me kill him. But before that could happen Barry’s team was able to remove the bomb, so dear old dad couldn’t use Lisa as leverage against me anymore. I turned the cold gun on him and pulled the trigger.”

“Oh,” Peter says faintly.

“So, killed him. Went to prison for it. And-“

“Wait, prison? Really? I mean, yeah, you weren’t technically in immediate danger, but he had abused and terrorized you. Didn’t your lawyer argue that thing where that sustained abuse puts you in that mindset where your father is fully a danger to you?”

Leonard finally turns around. “I honestly don’t remember the trial that well. I was dealing with a lot stuff at the time.”

“What about Barry? Didn’t he help?”

“You know Barry’s a CSI, right?”

“Oh.”

“But he must have at least somewhat agreed with you because when I escaped, he didn’t even try to put me back or catch me again.”

“Escaped?”

Leonard waves that away. “Anyway, killing my dad didn’t do what I thought it would, I didn’t feel much safer or free of him. He’s still there, in nightmares, in my memories. It didn’t erase anything he’d done. It didn’t erase anything I’d done. It did do something, it did make sure he physically can’t come after me or Lisa again. But we aren’t free of him.”

Peter’s quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry you had such an awful father.”

Leonard snorts a little. “Thanks. I know you’ve had some pretty terrible things happen to you too, it sucks.”

Peter gives a little laugh. After a minute, he says, “So, he sort of made you into a criminal, a thief.”

And this is the part Leonard had been dreading. “Hey, Peter, no. My father and what he did to me and Lisa had a lot of influence on my life, but I’ve made my own choices too, good and bad.”

“But, but he put you on the path, kept you there, coerced you.”

“That’s all true. But I am my own person and there is a point where I am responsible for my own actions, most of them anyway.”

“I’m not, I don’t…”

“It’s okay. It’s a lot to take in. C’mon.” Leonard starts to head out and Peter follows, quiet the whole way back.

~~~

“I didn’t take you for a roof guy,” Clint says, settling next to Leonard where he’s standing, looking out over Central.

Leonard shrugs. “They’re okay. Sometimes they are the best point of entry or best vantage point.”

“True.”

“Not why I’m here now, though. I figured you might be coming to talk to me.”

“Considerate of you.”

“I can always push you off if it gets too annoying.”

Clint smiles widely. “You know, sometimes you really remind of Natasha.”

Leonard considers that. “Thank you.”

Clint nods and says abruptly, “My father wasn’t great, but my parents died when I was really young. Then me and my brother were wards of the state and that wasn’t for us, so we ran away and joined the circus.”

Leonard looks at him disbelievingly.

“No, I know how it sounds, but that’s what happened, well, a carnival, anyway, and later there were circuses. So there we were, and you know, my relationship with my brother wasn’t really like yours with your sister. Then there was this guy with the carnival, took me under his wing and taught me a lot, but it turns out, he wasn’t actually a good guy. He was embezzling and he beat me and left me for dead.” 

Leonard dips his head in acknowledgement. Not quite what he had expected, but some parts feel familiar.

“A lot of people, when they hear that story, they have a lot of questions and they’re so sorry. And they talk about how it’s no wonder I did what I did. I was not always the paragon of virtue I have been for quite a while now.”

“Paragon of virtue? Weren’t you a expert marksman for a government intelligence agency?”

“Yep.”

Not exactly Leonard’s definition, but really who is he to judge? “Alright.”

Clint stares out over Central. “I hate how it makes me feel when people react like that. Like it’s all about what was done to me. And it makes me feel stupid and trapped and helpless, like I’m that kid, stuck there. And the worst part about it is that they don’t realize what they’re doing.”

Leonard lets the silence draw out. “I don’t like feeling small. Sometimes it makes me feel like that, insignificant. Other times it makes me wonder if people would excuse me if I held-up a convent or went around stealing candy from kids on Halloween.”

Clint chuckles. “Maybe Girl Scouts selling cookies?”

“A lemonade stand?”

“Old folks home?”

“The habitat of the pygmy three-toed sloth?”

Clint snorts with laughter. “Wow! Go big or go home, huh? Cute, endangered animal is a bridge too far, I think.”

“It’s good to know where the lines are.”

Clint straightens up from the slouch he had settled into. “I don’t know, I don’t usually pay much attention to lines, except to step over them.” He hooks a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m heading in.”

Leonard nods.

Clint goes, leaving the roof. Leonard stays for a few minutes more before following.

~~~

Peter is waiting for Leonard when he gets back from his early morning errand. Leonard sets down the bag and takes off his coat and then settles on the couch.

“So, um, Barry talked to me, and Clint talked to me, and Mick, and Lisa, and Wade. Well, maybe Wade did, I think he was talking about this. There was a diorama? I don’t know.”

“A diorama. Okay.”

“So, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad or wrong or whatever. And I know you know that. I also know that just because I didn’t mean to, that doesn’t make it okay. I think I kind of understand. Like it takes away from you, like, um, people don’t accept the whole you, the strengths _and_ the flaws. I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s fine. I expected it.”

“It’s not fine. And you shouldn’t have to expect it. It doesn’t change who you are. And I like who you are. Actually, I think you’re awesome. And, and, I love you, like a brother, if that’s okay? Lisa said she’s willing to share ‘cause you’re really good at it.”

Leonard clears his throat and blinks hard a couple of times. “Yeah, kid, that’s okay.”

And Peter throws himself at Leonard, hugging him.

Leonard hugs him back.

“Hey! Nobody told me there would be hugging! Why was I not informed?” comes Wade’s affronted voice from behind the couch. And then Wade is there, with them on the couch, attack-hugging them both. 

Leonard’s not really sure how Wade moved from behind the couch to pretty much on top of them, but Leonard suffers through Wade’s enthusiastic hug, until whatever spiky thing Wade has on him pokes too uncomfortably for Leonard to stand. “Do you have a _pineapple_ in your pocket?”

“ _That’s_ where I put it.”

~~~

Clint’s eyes light up when he unwraps the package Leonard hands over. “Are these…?”

Leonard just tilts his head. Clint had waxed poetic about some prototype arrows that Arrow had had. Leonard had had Barry drop him at Star City and then sent Barry to pick up a few things for Leonard elsewhere before picking him up again. He sent Barry off more for plausible deniability than anything else. After all, Leonard sort of had permission, Arrow having once challenged him to thwart Arrow’s security system. Leonard had actually done it the next day, having replaced a mannequin with one with a face modeled on himself, but that apparently still hadn’t been discovered. This time, he thoughtfully left behind a note detailing two (out of the many) flaws and weaknesses in the security. Even odds that Barry will scold him or laugh when he finds out, either way Leonard’s not worried.

Leonard hands over the boxes of tea that he’d had Barry fetch to Clint, too. “For Ms. Romanoff.” Natasha likes to collect and try different teas from around the world and Leonard thought Clint might want to make up for any manipulation that got him here by getting her teas from places that don’t exist on her Earth.

Clint accepts with a wry smile and a look in his eyes that says he knows the arrows and teas are Leonard’s thank you.

Leonard hands Peter four small, sealed, glass bottles with powder in them, two with red, two with blue. 

“What are these?” Peter asks.

“Kind of like smoke grenades, just thicker, colored smoke and more effective than your average one. In case you need a distraction or a concealed get away. Non-toxic,” Leonard says.

“Wow, thanks!” Peter looks at the bottles. “They’re kind of sparkly.”

Leonard smirks. “Pixie dust is.”

Peter rolls his eyes, but can’t quite keep his lips from turning up into a smile.

Wade steps up. “Do I get something too, O Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz?”

Leonard smiles at the reference. “Sure thing, Tin Man.”

“Hey, no, I am totally Toto. Or Dorothy. Ooh, or a flying monkey. Eh, I guess Tin Man’s okay, too.”

Leonard holds up a finger and a few seconds later Barry in his Flash suit comes blurring in, holding two big bags from one of the best Mexican places in the region. 

“Burritos, tacos, and chimichangas, like you wanted,” Barry says as he hands them over to Leonard, who promptly holds them out to Wade.

“Burritos, tacos, _and_ chimichangas, you do love me!” Wade exclaims, hurling himself at Leonard and wrapping himself around Leonard’s torso, kissing all over Leonard’s head – well, moving his mask-covered mouth to different areas and making lip-smacking noises, at least.

Leonard sighs as he hears Barry’s stifled laugh and Cisco’s not-so-stifled laugh behind him. He hands the bags over to Peter and Clint who are watching, looking very amused. Leonard pats Wade and then pulls him off and sets him on his feet. “I thought you’d like them.”

Wade prances over to take the bags. “Oh, I do, I do, this is better than any stupid heart. Except for Peter’s.” Wade pats a blushing Peter’s chest. “Unless there were pancakes, too.”

“Lisa gave me something to give to you,” Leonard says to Peter. He pulls the gold keychain out of his pocket and gives it to Peter.

Peter holds it up. “LS? Her initials?”

“Yours. If you’re going to be our little brother, got to have them.”

Peter smiles. “Oh. So, like, Little Spider?”

Clint snorts. “Yeah, kid, _spider_ , that’s the word he was thinking of.”

Peter shoves Clint, who shoves him right back. Wade looks delighted at the shoving match. Or maybe just by the chimichanga he’s holding up to his nose. Peter ends the shoving match by virtue of shooting out at web and swinging over to the other side of Leonard. Clint gives him a sour look.

Peter hugs Leonard and says quietly, “Thanks, and tell Lisa thanks. I’ll miss you.”

Leonard returns the embrace and says back just as quietly, “Me too, Peter Pan.”

Peter lets go and then gives a quick hug to a surprised Barry.

A few minutes later, Clint, Peter, and Wade are gone, safely back on their own Earth.

Cisco claps his hands. “Well, that was something.”

“Yeah,” Barry says. He looks at Leonard, concerned, and asks, “You okay?”

Leonard shrugs.

Barry turns to Cisco. “We’re going to take off.”

“Yeah, dude, see you later. You too, uh, Leonard.”

Leonard would smile as Cisco’s obvious discomfort, but he doesn’t really feel like it. “Cisco.”

“Can I…?” Barry asks.

Leonard nods and closes his eyes as Barry flashes Leonard home. Leonard sits down on the couch as Barry flashes out of his suit. Barry quickly joins him, eying him worriedly.

“I’ll be okay,” Leonard says.

“Yeah, but you aren’t now.”

“That’s how it goes sometimes.”

Barry puts his arms around Leonard and Leonard lets himself lean into Barry. They sit there quietly for a while. Leonard worries that he’s getting too soft, that they make him soft, Barry, Peter. Somehow though, it doesn’t feel like a weakness. He thinks that he could actually be harder and sharper for them if he had to. He knows how hard and sharp he can be and has been for Lisa, and even Mick (of course, he’s also been hard and sharp against Mick). Leonard thinks about family and what it means. Maybe he’s okay with being soft. Still, it couldn’t hurt to remind the rest of the world how sharp he can be. And planning that would make for a good distraction.

Barry clears his throat. “You know, if you give him a few months, Cisco could probably figure out a better, safer way to travel to that Earth. Especially if he was motivated to best Stark.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“And we could go for a visit, you could show me places that don’t exist here.”

Leonard suppresses a smile, Barry is something else. “That something you’d want to do?”

Barry nods.

Leonard lets his smile out. “I just figured out what the most amazing thing I ever stole was.”

“What?”

“Your heart.”

Barry makes the strangest noise, halfway between a groan and an ‘aw’. Then he shakes his head and then maneuvers them so that he can kiss Leonard. Leonard can get on board with that. And he does.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you find any typos or if the format is messed up or if you think I need any tags.
> 
> There should be more Lisa and Mick in this. I blame Deadpool.


End file.
